Naomi Alderman

Twice a month, the librarians are in, with their favorite recommendations in Two Book Minimum, a toe-to-toe discussion on a book or topic, as well as news from the book world, updates from Lawrence Public Library, and beyond. Listen to the latest episode:

Bookish News:

Awesome article on LitHub about inclusion in publishing. Dhonielle Clayton, COO of We Need Diverse Books (and former librarian!), said “I hate the term sensitivity reader. I prefer the term targeted beta reader because it’s more accurate. . . . I’m not being sensitive. I’m just an editor and it’s another level of editing.” Click the link to read on!

“In THE POWER, the world is a recognizable place: there’s a rich Nigerian boy who lounges around the family pool; a foster kid whose religious parents hide their true nature; an ambitious American politician; a tough London girl from a tricky family. But then a vital new force takes root and flourishes, causing their lives to converge with devastating effect. Teenage girls now have immense physical power–they can cause agonizing pain and even death. And, with this small twist of nature, the world drastically resets.”

This episode was produced by Jim Barnes in the Sound & Vision studio. Our theme song is by Heidi Lynne Gluck. You can find the Book Squad Podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, or SoundCloud. Please subscribe and leave us comments – we’d love to know what you think, and your comments make it easier for other people to find our podcast. Happy reading and listening! xo, Polli & Kate

While Obama was president, he started a tradition of sharing his favorite books and music from each year and, graciously, he’s kept with this tradition for 2017. At the top of his list this year? A new “dystopian” novel with some radical, feminist themes called The Power by Naomi Alderman. The book was hovering around my to-read list for awhile, and the endorsement from this fella bumped it up several spots.

The reason I used the word dystopian in quotes above is because, when asked if the novel fit that category, Alderman’s response was, “Only if you’re a man.” Its premise asks the question: What happens if, globally, men were suddenly the ones constantly worrying about being overpowered, overlooked, and violently dominated? Read More..